Air-purifying apparatus.



J. H. KINEALY.

AIR PURIFYING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 27, 1910 97 ,0 1, Patented Nov. 15, 1910.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

I'VITNESSES:

JNVENTOR 3 SHEETSSHEET 2.

Patented Nov. 15, 1910.

J. H. KINEALY. A IR PUBIFYING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 27, 1910.

[NVE TOR.

VITNESSg-L J. H. KINEALY.

AIR PURIFYING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION II-LED JAN. 27, 1910.

Patented Nov. 15, 1910.

3 SHEETSSHEET 3.

INVENTOR.

I [TNESSE carried forward in contact l prising a'number of baflie the water mechanically hel a on the bafiie plates of the eliminator fiers it is necessary pass through them at a comparatively .low

Joan E. K NEALY. or, mvsow, MISSOURI.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J OHN H, KINEALY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ferguson, in the county of St. Louis and State of Missouri, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Air-Purifying Apparatus, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part thereof.

My invention relates toair purifying apparatus whereby the air supplied to buildings for heating and ventilating purposes is washed and made pure and clean by removing therefrom dust and dirt. and other. impurities.

In; air purifying apparatus used at the present time, the air is made to pass through a washer where it comes in contacwith water in a more or less finely divided condition by which the heavy particles of dirt are washed away and the finer particles are withdrops of water mechanically held in suspension in the air. -After the air leaves the washer it comesin contact with an eliminator complates by which in suspension by the air and the finer articles of dust and dirt are removed from tl e air. The articles of water with the dust and dirt are deposited and are thus prevented from being carried with the air into the rooms to be heated or ventilated. For the successful operation of these purithat the air be madeto velocity so that the apparatus'is large and expenslve to construct and occupies a great deal-of s ace. I The ob ect of my invention is to provide p11 .air purifying apparatus-that will be of ow cost to construct, and one that will occupy a comparativel small space and which will work successfully when the air passes through it at a high velocity.

My invention is fully shown in the ac-. compan ing drawings where similar letters are use to designate similar parts.

Figure 1 showsa view of the apparatus looking at it in the directionxofthe flowcof the air therethrough; Fig. 2 is a. view of a vertical section along the line 22 of Fig. 1; Fig.- 3is a view of a vertical section along Specification of Letters latent. Application filed January27, 1910. Serial No.

. with set-screws K whereby the sha I AIR-PURIFYING APPARATUS.

Patented Nov. 15, 1916 the line 33 of Fig.2; Figs-.4, 5 and 6 are views ofdetails of the eliminator; Fig. 7 is a horizontal sectional view of a form of apparatus which differs in its details from the orm of apparatus shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3. Referring to the figures,.A is a thoroughfarefor the air.

3 is a fan by'which the'air is made to mov through the thoroughfare A and which is supported by a suitable shaft D and drlven by a suitable motor-connected to. the shaft D by means of a belt passing over the pulley-wheel G or in any other proper manner.

E is a system of water pipes having suitable spray heads or nozzles F by means of which water for washin the air is injected intosaid air as it ows through the thoroughfare A. Any. form .of nozzle F may be'used, but in the drawings Ihave shown a construction whereby the water issuing from the pipes E through the nozzles F is made to form a sheet of water and spray of water in a finely divided condition.

G is a shaft or rod supported by bearings H which are held in place ports such as I in Fig. 3.

J .represents a disk fan "of peculiar construction which is shown in detail in Flgs.

by suitable sup- -'4, 5 and 6. Each of these disk fans J consists of' a number of blades a attached to a hub b and bound together at their outer ends by circumferential strips d. Each blade a is provided with gutters 0 along its radial edges which extend outwardly from the hub b to the circumferential strips (1. In the two gutters, one on each radial edge, at

blades arev set in planes makmg an, angle with the axis of the hub and should preferthough this is not always necessary; The

ably be of such a number and size as to partly overlap, leaving however a space be'- tweenadjacent blades through WhlCh the air can ass. are ored to fit the shaft or rod Gso that The hubs b of the disk fans J are provided with set-screws e by means of WhlCh the disk fans may be fastened tothe shaft G when desired. The bearings Hare also rovided The huh I) of these disk fans J Gina I the fans J will turn easily on the shaft G.

96 v drawings the blades are shown as having1 the inlet to the fan B, as shown in Fig. 2; or they may be placed either in front of the inlet or in front of the discharge, as shown in Fig. 7. In Fig. 2 the shaft G is at rest in the bearings H and the disk fans J. are free to, revolve on the shaft G. In Fig. 7

the shaft G in front'of the inlet of the fan B .is free to revolve in the bearings H and is connected to the shaft D of the fan B by means of acoupling L, so that this shaft is driven by the shaft of the fan B. The

' through M is controlled.

O is a pipe leading from a pump P through which water is supplied to the spray heads F, and'Q is a pipe through which water isdrawn, to the pump P from a sump S through a suitable strainer R.

' U is a partition in the thoroughfare A by which the air is prevented from assing around the outside of the disk ans J. There is a space between the lower end of this partition U and the bottom of the thorfans J.

oughfare A.

V is a tank in the lower part of the thoroughfare A .beneath the s ra heads F and extending wholly or part y elow the disk T is a drain-pipe or overflow pipe extending upwardly above the bottom of the tank V and leading downwardly into the sum S. The upper part of the pipe T exten s above the lower part of the partition U so that water will always stand in the tank V above the lower part of the artition U so as to form a water-seal and t us prevent air from passing below the partition U.

' The pipeT extends below the surface of the water 1n the sump S so as to prevent .air

50' from passing through said pipe into the apparatus. The pump P may e any desired form. and the strainer It may be of any suitable shape.

- The operation of the device is as follows: The fan B being set in motion air ismade to pass through the "thoroughfare A and as it comes in contact with the water from the spray heads F of the washer the heavier particles of dust and dirt are carried down with the falling water and thus separated from the air. Finer particles of dustand dirt are'carried-forward with some water and come in contact with the first of the disk fans. The blades of this fan are made wet by the w'atercarried by the air and the finer particles of dust and dirt come in contact with thesewetted blades and are caught: The first of these disk fans is'made to revolve either bythe action of the air passing through the thoroughfare or by the impact of the jet of, Water from the pipe M on the blades, or by being attached to the shaft G which may be driven by the fan shaft D as shown in Fig. 7; ,or the first of these disk fans may be driven by the combined action of the air and the jet of water from the pipe M. In any case, however, water and dirt or dust that strike the blades of this disk fan will be preventedfrom leaving the blades at their sides by the gutters 0 and will be made to move radially outwardly along the blades by the centrifugal forcev thrown therefrom by centrifugal force and i will eventually find its way into the tank V.

The gutters c of the bladesa of the disk fans J prevent water from passing sidewise from the blades and uide it radially outwardly I to the ends hf the blades from which it is thrown by centrifugal force. *The disk fans form an eliminator by which water held in mechanical suspension in tlfe air is removed and the air thereby dried, that is freed of entrained water.

- It is evidentthat the disk fans may be made to revolve by the action of the air alone, as is the case for. all the disk fans of Figs. 1 and 2 except the first, and asis also the case of the disk fan in front of the discharge opening of the fan B shownin Fig. 7; or the disk fans may be made to revolve by means of the action of the air and the jet of water from the pipeM as is the case,

of the first disk fan shown in Fig. 2; or the disk fans may be made to revolve by some other means such as the shaft of the fan B as shown for those disk fans except the first in front of the inlet of the fan B in Fig. 7.

The water that collects; in the tank'V passes away through the overflow pipe T into the sump -S and from there it may be drawn by means of the pump P and used over and over again until it has become too dirty for further use. The pipe M may be connected to any suitable source of supply of Water.

In some cases it is not necessary to use the pipes E withthe spray heads F, but a sufficient amount of water may be made to pass from suitable jets like M to pro erly wet the blades of the first disk fan. gome V a thoroughfare for the air,

of the water be thrown off by contact with the blades of the first disk. fans and. will serve to wash the air of heavier particles even before they 2 come in contact with the disk fans.

It is evident that the form and shape of the various 7 varied to suit the requirements of different conditions without departing from the spirit of my invention; -and the number of disk fans used and their size maybe varied to suit the requirements of each case.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. An air purifying apparatus comprising a plurality of disk fans adapted to revolve in said than oughfare and having blades with a gutter formed on a radial edge, and means whereby the blades of the first of said disk fans are wetted, substantially as described.

2. An air purif ing apparatus comprising a thoroughfare or the air, a plurality of disk fans'f adapted to revolve in said thor oughfare and having blades with a gutter formed a radial edge, and means whereby a jet of. water is made to im inge on the blades of the first of said disk ans, substantially as described.

3. An air purifying apparatus comprising a thoroughfare for the air, a Washer, and an eliminator consisting of a disk fan adapted to revolve in said thoroughfare and having blades with a gutter formed'on a radial edge, substantially as described.

4:. An air purifying apparatus comprising a thoroughfare for the air, a washer, and an eliminat0r consisting of a disk fan adapted to revolve in said thoroughfare and having passing from the pipe M will 1 blades with parts of the apparatus may be gutters formed on their radial edges, substantially as described.

5. An air urifiying apparatus comprising a thorough are or the air, a washer, an

' eliminator consisting of a plurality of disk fans adapted to revolve in said thoroughfare and having blades with gutters formed on their radial edges, and means whereby one or more of said disk fans may be made to revolve independent of the action of the air passing through said thoroughfare, substantially as described. 6. An air purifying apparatus comprising a thoroughfare for the alr, a rality of disk fans adapted to thoroughfare and having blades with a gutter formed on a radial edge, and means whereby a jet of water is made to impinge on the blades of the first of said disk fans, substantially as described.

7 An air purifying apparatus comprising a thoroughfare for the air, a washer, a plurality of disk fans adapted to revolve in said thoroughfare and having blades with a washer, a plugutter formed on a radial edge, means.

whereby a jet of water is made to impinge on the blades of the first of said disk fans, and means whereby said disk fans after the first may be made to revolve independent of the action of theair passing through said thoroughfare, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN H. KINEALY.

v Witnesses BELLE TIERNEY, THERESA SUEME.

revolve in said 

